


There Will be Blood

by JinxQuickfoot



Series: Whumptoberverse [10]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: BAMF Peter Parker, Blood Loss, Bruce Banner Is a Good Bro, Day 10, Gen, Kidnapping, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, Protective Peter Parker, Whump, Whumptober 2020, medical emergencies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:54:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27200738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JinxQuickfoot/pseuds/JinxQuickfoot
Summary: The first part of the Spider-Man suit Peter had designed had been the mask. He had never wanted anyone to know who was. He had never wanted to drag those close to him into the danger he faced every day. Not after Ben. Never again - he had made that promise to himself the first time he had put on the suit.And now it was a promise he had broken.----------------------------------------------------------------------------When Peter gets a phone call that Ned in is danger, he makes an unexpected ally.
Relationships: Bruce Banner & Peter Parker, Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Wanda Maximoff/Vision
Series: Whumptoberverse [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1921831
Comments: 77
Kudos: 208
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Whumptober 2020 Day 10
> 
> Prompts: Trail of Blood/Blood Loss
> 
> Relationship: Peter & Bruce
> 
> Direct sequel to [You're Always Spider-Man](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26791210/chapters/65356297).
> 
> TW: Blood

Peter beat his record from getting from the Compound to Queens by seven minutes and twenty-eight seconds.

The first part of the Spider-Man suit Peter had designed had been the mask. He had never wanted anyone to know who was. He had never wanted to drag those close to him into the danger he faced every day. Not after Ben - he had made that promise to himself the first time he had put on the suit. 

And now it was a promise he had broken.

Peter landed on the house over from Ned’s, crouching behind a satellite dish. The only lights on were in the top right windows, where Ned’s room and bathroom was. His parents’ car was missing from the driveway.

_My parents won’t be back until late. She says…she says you need to get here before then._

It was already late, and Peter didn’t know what was going to happen if Ned’s parents came home before he had finished dealing with Melinoe. Would she hurt Ned? Take his parents hostage as well? Something worse?

Peter nearly fell off the roof when Karen spoke in his ear, _“Hello, Peter.”_

“Ah! Damnit, Karen, give a guy some warning.”

_“I did. I said, Hello, Peter.”_

“Yeah, ok, you got me there,” Peter mumbled, distracted. “Can you tell me how many life forms are in Ned’s house at the moment?”

_“You appear to be on an unauthorized mission. My protocols dictate that I inform Mr Stark.”_

_She says not to bring anyone else. Or to tell anyone else you’re coming._

“No, don’t! Don’t tell him!”

_“My protocols dictate - ”_

“Karen, please, I…I’m just out for a swing, ok? Clearing my head.”

_“Your adrenaline and stress levels indicate otherwise.”_

“Yeah because swinging is stressful and…adrenalineful.”  
 _  
“Peter, I am a multi-million dollar A.I. designed and programmed by Mr Stark. I am unsure what you think you are achieving by lying to me.”_

“Fine,” Peter gave in. “So, there’s this enhanced called Melinoe, right? And some other enhanced kidnapped me and Harley because they thought the Avengers had captured her, and they wanted to trade us for her, but the Avengers never even had her in the first place and I escaped and I thought everything was fine but then Tony -”

_“Your oxygen levels are low.”_

“- and now she has Ned and I can’t tell anyone else or she’ll hurt him or worse, and I really can’t let that happen because if it does it’ll be my fault and-”

_“Peter. Breathe.”_

“Oh, right.” Peter sucked in a breath and held it, staring at the lit window in Ned’s house.

_“More than once. I believe that’s how the human respiratory system works.”_

Peter took two more deep breaths, heart steadying a little.

_“Better?”_

“A little. Thanks, Karen.”

_“That’s what I’m here for. I’m here to keep you safe.”_

Peter considered that. “But not just me, right? You’re meant to keep as many people safe as you can, right?”

_“You are trying to talk around my protocols about contacting Mr Stark.”_

“Hear me out,” Peter rushed, eyes still on the light in the window, already making his way towards the backyard. He didn’t have time to waste. “Ned’s in immediate danger, right? I’m not.”

Karen didn’t reply, as though she was processing that information.

“And by calling Mr Stark, you’re endangering him and therefore me as well. Much more so than if you didn’t tell him I was here. So really, the best way to protect me is not to call anyone at all. Right? Karen?”

_“Your logic is flimsy and your argumentative structure needs improvement.”_

“Are you seriously critiquing my debate skills right now?”

_“That said, I do not wish to endanger Mr Leeds. However, if I feel that Mr Stark’s presence is required, I will not hesitate to contact him.”_

“You’re the best, Karen. Knew you liked Ned.”

_“Mr Leeds’s company significantly improves your oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin levels. These hormones are essential for mental health and longevity.”_

“You just like him because he said if you were a person you’d look like Carrie Fisher. _”_

_“I did enjoy that comment, yes. As per your previous request, there are three life signs in the house.”_

“Three?” Ok, so Melinoe had a friend. That was fine. That was totally fine, Peter had faced much worse odds before, even if this time there was someone he cared about in the way. He would be fine. Everything would be -

That train of thought ended abruptly when Peter saw the trail of blood that led through the backdoor.

Peter ran, no longer caring about stealth, swallowing bile as he burst into the house to see the blood caked into the carpet, smeared along with the wallpaper, leading up the stairs.

_“NED!”_

Peter used a web to catapult himself to the second story, bypassing the stairs entirely as he threw himself into Ned’s bedroom and found Ned staring back at him, eyes wide. “Pe- Spider-Man?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m here.” Peter dashed across the room, kneeling next to Ned, looking for the source of the blood. “Where are you hurt?”

“I’m ok, really. Listen, it’s -”

“Where are you bleeding from?”

“I’m not, but -”

“I saw the blood!”  


"It’s not mine, and you need to know -”

“Peter Parker.”

Peter flew to his feet, placing himself between Ned and the girl covered in blood at the door.

She wasn’t what Peter was expecting; a small wisp of a person, her ashen face half-hidden behind a curtain of dark hair. She looked like she would be knocked over by a breath of wind; not someone capable of kidnapping a sixteen-year-old twice her size.

Peter shot a web at her anyway.

It didn’t hit. The web fluid turned to mist before solidifying again on the wall behind Melinoe, useless. “I just want to talk.”

A hand tugged at Peter’s wrist. “Peter. Listen to her.”

Peter kept a web shooter raised at Melinoe as he said, “Don’t move,” then risked looking back at Ned.

His best friend was still on the floor, not moving despite the fact that he wasn’t tied up, didn’t seem hurt in any way. Then he saw Ned’s feet. Or, more accurately, _didn’t_ see them. They were both sunken into the carpet, the floor of his bedroom wrapping around his ankles and trapping him in place. 

Peter rounded on Melinoe, making the Korean woman take two steps back, half-vanishing into one of the walls. “Let him go.”

”I will,” she promised. “After you help me.”

_“Peter.”_ Ned tugged insistently on Peter’s wrist again. Now the immediate panic had passed, Peter noticed that his friend wasn’t as scared as should be. Nervous sure, but not scared. “Look in the bathroom.”

Sure enough, the trail of blood didn’t end with Ned. Instead, it curled around the door, over the carpet and into the bathroom.

Melinoe stepped out of the wall. “I didn’t know where else to go. She needs help.”

“It’s ok,” Ned insisted. “I’m ok - she didn’t hurt me.”

“Her friends kidnapped me and Harley!”

Melinoe risked another step forward. “Which ‘friends’?”

“Cratos and Hermes.”

Melinoe’s eyes went huge for a second as she seemed to turn liquid for a moment, melting in a way that may Peter’s stomach churn before she flurried back into a solid form. “I didn’t know,” she said softly. “They’re not my friends. I don’t want to have anything more to do with them.”

Still cautious, Peter looked from his trapped friend to his captor.

“Look in the bathroom,” Ned insisted. “It’s not what you think.”

Peter bit his lip, then made a decision. “You first,” he said to Melinoe. “I’m not leaving you alone with him.”

Melinoe didn’t argue, half-sprinting, half-floating back to the bathroom. Peter glanced back at Ned, still torn. “Go,” Ned prompted him. “I’ll be ok.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Once you see…well, just go see, ok?”

Peter swallowed, still unsure, but curiosity was getting the better of him, so he finally let go of Ned and made his way over to the bathroom.

Whatever he was expecting to see, it was not a bloodied, unconscious Wanda Maximoff curled up in his best friend’s bathtub.

Peter’s first thought was that she was dead. She was bone white, her hair and costume only adding to the overwhelming amount of red in the tiny space. Then he noticed the faintest rise and fall of her chest and went to kneel by her side, letting the mask peel away. “What happened to her?”

“She got shot,” Melinoe explained, biting her lip. “By some special weapon. She can usually deflect the bullets, but she didn’t…or couldn’t…” Her hands fluttered around the wound. “I tried to make the blood solid, to stop the bleeding, but it’s not _working._ ”

Peter’s hands ghosted over Wanda’s stomach where, sure enough, a nasty wound was still leaking blood around a wad of makeshift bandages. It had an odd, gold glow to it that Peter wasn’t sure would be visible to anyone without his enhanced vision. “She needs a hospital.”

“I can’t take her to one. She’s a fugitive.”

“The Compound, then.”

“Not an option.”

“She’s dying!”

“No hospitals,” Melinoe insisted. “And no Avengers.”

“ _I’m_ an Avenger. You called me!”

Melinoe shifted, uncomfortable, flickering in and out of solid form. “You’re different. You’re one of us. And…I didn’t know who else to call.” The next words were small. “I don’t want her to die.”

Peter was reaching for the bandages, but stopped himself. Would that just make it worse? “Then let me get her to a doctor.”

Melinoe moved so she was between Peter and door. Between him and Ned. _“No.”_

Peter grimaced, frustrated. “I know you’re trying to protect her, but I’m not trained for this. I don’t…” He tore apart his scant medical knowledge, looking for a solution and not finding one. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Stop the bleeding.”

As though on some macabre cue, Wanda suddenly shifted slightly, the move causing a fresh wave of blood to soak the bandages. She mumbled something unintelligible, then passed out again.

“She’s _dying._ ”

“Ok, ok” Peter assured her. “I’ll, um…I’ll think of something. But I can’t do this on my own.”

“I’ll help.”

“I meant Ned.”

“He stays where he is.”

“His parents are going to get home eventually, you do know that right?”

Melinoe bit her lip, unsure. “Stop them, then.”

Peter wasn’t going to argue there; he wasn’t pulling Mr and Mrs Leeds into this mess as well. He pointed at Wanda’s injury. “Keep pressure on that.”

He returned to where Ned was trapped in the floor, watching him with round eyes. “Did you see? Peter, it’s the _Scarlet Witch_ and she’s in my _bathroom._ Which is terrifying because there’s blood everywhere and everything but also kind of really awesome.”

“Ned, you’re being used as leverage right now, that is definitely _not_ awesome. And neither is your parents coming home.”

Ned turned a little paler. “They can’t see this.”

“Yeah, I know. How do we stop them coming home?”

Ned thought for a second then, “Gas leak.”

“Yeah. Yeah, that could work.” Peter snatched up Ned’s phone from its charger and tossed it to him.

Ned fumbled it, and it smacked into the floor. “Dude, not all of us have super-reflexes.”

“You only need regular reflexes to catch a phone! I didn’t even throw it that hard.”

“Hey, I knew you pre-spider bite, you can’t judge.”

Ned got on the phone, starting to spin a story about a gas leak and evacuations and how he would be staying over at Peter’s for the night as Peter sprinted back to the bathroom, slipping a little on a wet patch on the floor. He didn’t look down at what said wet patch consisted of.

“So no Compound, no hospitals?” he clarified, even as he didn’t see another option. He might not be able to web Melinoe up, but he could probably get Ned out of the floor and both of them out of here before Melinoe could stop them. But that would mean leaving Wanda alone with someone who refused to get her proper medical attention. 

“No,” Melinoe emphasized. “They’ll find us.”

“The government?”

“Worse. They want her dead - they won’t stop until she is.” She shuffled her feet. “I don’t know where her boyfriend is. I didn’t know where else to go.”

Peter took a long breath. He had patched himself up in the street and in his bedroom plenty of times; more times then he had told Tony about anyway. 

Wait, no. Don’t think about Tony. 

Peter pealed back the bandages, swallowing a retch when he saw how messy and deep the wound was. Whenever he got hurt, he’d just Google how to treat himself - although through a separate phone he knew Tony wasn’t tracking. He didn’t need his mentor asking about that portion of his search history. 

Well. His previous mentor, now.

He didn’t have that phone on him, and this wound didn’t look like anything he’d seen before, and certainly not anything he’d find answers to with a quick internet search. He was so out of his depth.

“I don’t know how to fix this,” Peter admitted, tentative, hoping Melinoe wouldn’t get angry.

Her expression flooded with anxiety instead. “I can’t take her to a hospital,” she whispered. “I promised her I wouldn’t, no matter what. Even if…” She gestured to Wanda’s limp form. “They can’t get ahold of her, or it’s over.”

“The Compound -”

“She made me promise not to take her there either. She says it’s too dangerous.”

“They wouldn’t hurt -”

“She didn’t mean dangerous for her.”

“Ok, just for the record, I have about a million and one questions about this.” Peter surveyed the wound again. “I need Ned’s phone.”

“You’re going to help?”

“I…yeah. I’m Spider-Man. That’s what I do.”

Something in the words must have gotten through to her, because when she returned she didn’t just bring Ned’s phone - she brought Ned as well. “I told him he could go if he wanted.”

Ned shook his head, kneeling next to Peter. “No way. I’m helping too.”

“Ned, you should -”

“Hey, I wouldn’t be a very good guy in the chair if I ditched you, would I?”

“You’d be a good guy in the chair if you were somewhere safe _in the chair.”_

Wanda stirred again, weaker than last time, ending the bickering. Ned was already taking the phone off Melinoe, searching for a solution.

“I don’t think we’re going to find answers on YouTube this time,” Peter said, holding his hand out for the phone.

“That’s where we always find answers! Like when I had to stitch you up after that guy with the giraffe mask stabbed you with a turkey carver.”

“And then we promised never to speak of that again.” Peter half-turned to Melinoe. “You said you called me because I was like you, right? Enhanced?”

Melinoe nodded, unsure.

Peter faced her head-on. “Look, I don’t know how to treat this. I could try, but I might just make it worse.But I know someone who can help. Someone who’s enhanced…like us.”

Melinoe remained suspicious. “Who? You’re the only enhanced on the Avengers.”

“I mean, technically Cap is -”

“He doesn’t count. Who?”

Peter swallowed, keeping eye contact. “I need to speak to Bruce Banner. Listen,” he hurried on, seeing Melinoe about to protest. “He’ll know what to do, and he’ll help.”

“He’ll tell everyone else.”

Peter shook his head. “Not if you’re running from the Accords. He’s not the biggest fan of them either. He’ll understand, maybe better than anyone.”

Melinoe still looked nervous, eyes darting between the phone and Wanda. “He was in the lab…Aceso, she…she hurt him. I helped.”

“Yeah, maybe I won’t say you’re here. But he will help if it’s Wanda, ok?” Peter was already punching in Bruce’s number, not waiting for permission. They didn’t have time to waste debating.

Melinoe must have thought the same because she said, “He’ll save Hecate?”

Peter frowned, about to question the name, but then Bruce’s voice was filling the room. _“Hello? Who is this?”_

“Dr Banner?”

_“Peter? Where are you? May came to pick you up nearly an hour ago. We were worried.”_

“I just needed to, um, clear my head. Go for a swing, you know? Listen, Dr Banner -”

_”Are you ok? I know Tony made a…questionable decision. One I don’t agree with, for the record. But I was outvoted. And why aren’t you calling from your phone?”_

“What happened with Tony?” Ned whispered, but Peter shook his head, raising a finger to his lips.

“That’s really nice of you, Dr Banner, but this is kind of a medical emergency.”

Bruce’s tone changed instantly. _“Ok, we’re on our way. Are you in the suit? We can track -”_

“No!” Peter said quickly, holding a hand out to Melinoe as she stepped forward, shaking her head in panic. “No one else! Please.”

_“Peter, if you’re in danger then I can’t -_

“It’s not me,” Peter rushed on. “I’m not hurt. But I’m with someone who is and I can’t take them to a hospital or the Compound.”

He heard Bruce take a short breath. _“If you’re trying to save a criminal that’s very commendable, Peter, but if they’re someone dangerous then you need backup.”_

“It’s not a criminal,” Peter insisted. “It’s…it’s Wanda.”

There was dead silence for all of three seconds, then Bruce’s voice came back online. _“Ok, I’m going to see what I can do. But if I decide she needs to come in to the Compound med bay, I’m sending Tony over. Do you understand?”_

“She’s not a criminal,” Peter insisted, drawing a surprised look from Melinoe.

_“That’s not what I’m saying. Bringing her to the Compound doesn’t mean that we’re turning her over the Accords Committee. But we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, ok? Send me pictures of the injury, and let’s see what we can do.”_

“Thank you. Thank you so much.” Peter handed the phone to Ned so he could snap photos while Peter unwound the wound further, reveling it in all its nasty glory for the camera.

They all heard Bruce’s wince as he received the photos. _“That’s not a normal wound.”_

“It was made by a weapon designed for enhanced.”

_“Peter...I really think you need to bring her into the med bay.”_

“I can’t do that.”

_“It’s the best chance she has of surviving.”_

Peter looked at Melinoe, who crossed her arms and shook her head. “That’s not an option.”

Bruce sighed. _“Ok. Let’s start by getting the wound clean at least, and then you’re going to need to stitch it closed. I can walk you through that.”_

“That’s ok, I’ve done that before on myself loads of times.”

_“I really wish you hadn’t just told me that.”_

“We cleaned the wound,” Ned said, quietly enough that Bruce wouldn’t pick it up over the phone, but Peter’s sensitive hearing would.

“The injury’s clean,” Peter repeated. “And I can stitch it closed and seal over it with web fluid. Is that going to be enough?” He peered at the oozing wound.

_“Without further medical tests, I can’t tell you. You’d need to bring her in for that, which I know isn’t an option,”_ Bruce said before Peter could. _“Did she pass out from the wound or blood loss?”_

Peter looked at Melinoe, who shrugged.

“I don’t know.”

_“Ok. Does it look like she’s lost a lot of blood?”_

Peter looked around the splattered bathroom, remembered the trail of blood leading up the stairs. “Yeah. Yeah, I think she has. No, she has. Definitely. Probably way too much, actually.”

_“Then she’s going to need a transfusion.”_

“Transfusion. Got it.” Peter nodded to Ned, who had already started to root around in one of the bathroom drawers.

There was a pause before Bruce added, _“As in a blood transfusion.”_

“Yeah, I know.”

Ned was pulling equipment from the drawer, bringing out the alcohol to sterilize it.

_“Do you? Because you are far too calm to have understood what I just said.”_

“It should be fine, I’ve done it before. I’ve got bags of my blood and everything ready, just in case.”

Peter could almost hear Bruce pinching the bridge of his nose through the phone. _“As much as I’d like to pretend you didn’t say that, I think someone has to be the responsible adult.”_

“I’m responsible!”

_“Peter, you’re stitching up a wanted fugitive.”_

“Yeah, but _responsibly._ I called a doctor.”

_“I think I see why Tony’s hair is turning gray. Before I go on, there’s nothing I can say to get you to bring her to the Compound instead?”_

Peter looked over Wanda’s pale form. “Honestly, even I did, I’m not sure she’d make it.” He suddenly felt the stakes of the situation wash over him. He’d always thought of the Avengers as invincible, every one of them, especially the high-powered ones like Wanda. But she could die right here, in Ned’s bathtub. And it would be Peter’s fault.

Bruce’s voice brought him back to earth. _“None of this matters if you and Wanda aren’t the same blood type. And even if you are…Peter, we don’t know what your blood will do to her. And if she’s as bad as you say, I need to send you an ambulance.”_

“You can’t!”

_“Tony will deal with the legalities, and Steve set up a deal for her weeks ago. She’ll be ok.”_

“I can help her!”

_“You can’t give her your blood, Peter, it’s too risky.”_

“And what about…” Peter glanced between Ned and Melinoe. “What if I had just a regular human’s blood?”

_“Who’s there with you, Peter?”_

Ned and Peter locked eyes, before Ned spoke up, making the decision for both of them. “Um, hi, Dr Banner? First off, I’m a big fan. Like huge. Of the Hulk too, but mainly you. So, yeah, hi. Second, I give transfusions to Peter all the time.” He saw Peter rapidly shaking his head at him. “Not all the time,” Ned amended quickly. “Like, twice. Three times. Three and a half.”

“This is Ned,” Peter jumped in. “He’s a friend, you can trust him.”

“And I’m O negative,” Ned added. Peter noticed Melinoe’s head swiveling around to stare at him “The universal blood type. I’ve given a transfusion to Peter before, no problems.”

_“This is not happening,”_ Bruce decided. _“It’s too risky, for all of you. I’m sending an ambulance -”_

Melinoe stepped forward, leaning right through Peter in the weirdest sensation he’d ever had in his life, apparently trying to hang up the phone, but Peter was faster, dodging around her. Or, more accurately, _out_ of her.

“What would you want if it were you?” Peter said quickly, making Melinoe pause, still half in Peter.

_“That’s irrelevant,”_ Bruce replied. _“I’m an adult who, to my current knowledge, is unable to die. Wanda is barely out of her teens, and I know she’s powerful, but that power doesn’t extend to healing.”_

“What would you want?” Peter pressed. “If…if it was Ross after you, and you had the choice of having someone take a risk to save you, or be brought to a place where you’d know he’d find you, what would you choose? I know that’s kind of a crappy thing to bring up,” Peter rushed on. “And I’m really sorry, Dr Banner, I am, but I also think Wanda would want us to try this first.” Melinoe nodded at the last sentence in agreement, backing off.

There was a long pause before Bruce finally said, _“Ok, Peter. We’ll try it your way. But at the first complication, an ambulance is headed your direction, and you’re getting Wanda inside of it, alright?”_

They all breathed a collected sigh of relief. “Thank you,” Peter said.”

_“And I’m staying on the line,”_ Bruce insisted. _“I’m going to give you a list of some supplies you’re going to need to pick up. This is only the short-term solution; there can be a whole host of complications afterward that we’re going to need to address.”_

“I got it.”

_“And Peter? After Wanda is ok, don’t hang up. We’re having a talk.”_


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello fans who leave kudos. Yes you, the ones who leave kudos on every work. I see you when you pop up in my inbox. You’re lovely people. I hope good things are happening to you right now, and that good things happened to you earlier, and that more good things happen to you later. Which they will. Because good things happen to lovely people.

A couple of hours later, Wanda’s breathing had evened out and a hint of color had returned to her cheeks. They had moved her from the bathtub to Ned’s bed, Melinoe having slipped away to pick up the medical items Bruce had listed. When Peter had asked how she was going to get them, she had given him a small smile and walked out through Ned’s walls as answer.

Peter was now alone in the blood-stained bathroom, with Bruce still on the line, running the physicist down Wanda’s improved symptoms.

_“Give her my number,”_ Bruce instructed when Peter was finished. _“It might take some convincing, but make sure she knows that it’s safe to call me if there are later complications, or if her powers don’t return.”_

Peter frowned. “Why would that take convincing?”  


_“Last time we saw each other she was making the Other Guy tear apart Johannesburg.”_

Peter winced. “Oh. Right.”

_“Tell her it’s in the past,”_ Bruce insisted. _“And if she doesn’t believe me, remind her that she was following the orders of an evil A.I. that I helped to create. So we’re…let’s see, even isn’t really the right word. Let’s go with allies. We’re allies. If she needs one.”_

Peter glanced at the bloody bathtub. “I think she does.”

Bruce sighed. _“That’s not all we need to talk about._ ”

“I’m sorry I brought up Ross,” Peter answered in a rush. “But it was urgent, and I didn’t know how else to convince you not to call an ambulance, and-”

_“Not that. We need to talk about Tony.”_

Peter’s stomach suddenly felt sicker than it had when he was stitching up Wanda. “Um, I’d rather not.”

_“Well, I would have rather not helped two teenage boys perform a potentially deadly blood transfusion, but apparently that’s the way this night is going.”_

Peter squirmed, then got to his feet and started pacing in the small space. “Thank you for your help, but I really don’t want someone else telling me that staying away from Tony is for my own good, or whatever.”

_“That’s not what I’m saying. I think it’s the opposite of your own good. And Tony’s.”_

Peter stopped mid-pace. “Wait, really?”

_“Tony’s wrong, Peter. And I don’t know how long it’s going to take him to see that, but I hope, for both of your sakes, it’s soon. You’re good for him.”_

Peter flushed. “That’s nice of you to say and all, but-”

_“You are. And I’m not going to pretend that I don’t see where he’s coming from, because I do, but he’s still wrong.”_

“Can you talk to him?” Peter blurted out. “Because he wouldn’t even listen to me, and he said Steve and May were on his side and -”

_“I can’t promise anything,”_ Bruce said softly. _“He hasn’t exactly been spending a lot of time around me either.”_

Peter’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

_“He’s avoiding me too.”_

“But you guys are, you’re…you’re the science bros!”

Bruce chuckled softly before turning serious again. _“Yeah, maybe once.”_

Peter wasn’t comprehending. “I thought you guys were…what do you mean you’re not spending time together? I thought you guys made up after you came back and Aceso and all that?”

_“He’s keeping his distance from me too. I think something about me telling a certain enhanced I was his friend and then getting shot three times in his workshop has something to do with that.”_

“That wasn’t Tony’s fault.”

_“Try telling him that. Between what Aceso did and Rhodey’s injury and the Accords…I just want to make sure you know it’s not you, Peter.”_

_It’s definitely you,_ that negative voice chimed in. Peter ignored it. 

“I know,” Peter replied quietly. “I’m still mad, though. Well, not mad, more…” What was the word he was looking for? Upset. Hurt.

_You’re such a pathetic child._

_Shut up. I mean it._

_“It’s not you,_ ” Bruce insisted. “ _Tony’s had a guilt complex the size of Jupiter since Afghanistan, and recent events haven’t helped. We're working on it, ok? He’ll realize he’s made a mistake with you - Harley as well.”_

_Unless it wasn’t a mistake at all._

Peter slapped his forehead, trying to make the negative voice stop. It just gave him a headache.

_“That’s only part of what I wanted to talk to you about, though.”_

Peter took a breath. He’d been expecting this. “I don’t know who Wanda’s running from, and I’m not going to tell anyone if she doesn’t want me to.”

_“I didn’t expect you to,”_ Bruce replied, taking Peter off guard. _“No, what I want to ask is why a teenager is stitching up his own wounds and giving himself blood transfusions.”_

“Oh, that.” Peter relaxed. “That’s nothing, I’ve been doing that since I was first bitten.”

_“I don’t think that’s as reassuring as you think it is.”_

“I heal,” Peter protested. “And it’s not like my wounds can get infected. Or, I don’t think they can. Hasn’t happened yet, anyway.”

_“Please stop talking. Ok.”_ Peter could hear Bruce removing his glasses so he could rub his eyes. _“No more of that, please. You get hurt, you come to the Compound.”_

“I…can’t do that, Dr Banner. If Tony doesn’t want me around -”

Bruce cut him off. _“I thought your thinking might be headed in that direction. Firstly, I need to remind you that Tony has -_ temporarily, _and I will make sure of that - said no to one-on-one time with Peter Parker. The Compound doors are still open for Spider-Man, 24/7, with all the medical care and attention you need.”_

“I’m fine,” Peter insisted. “It’s nice and all, and really generous, but I’m fine.”

_“Let me finish,”_ Bruce continued. _“If you get hurt, and for whatever reason you don’t want Tony to know about it, I want you to promise that you’ll call me. And as long as I’m sure you’re not dying, we can keep whatever happened between us. How does that sound?”_

“I…” Peter was lost for words. “Really?”

_“For the record, admitting to injury will not make Tony think you’re any less capable of being out there as Spider-Man. But if that’s a roadblock for you, and if it’s going to stop you seeking medical attention, then I’d rather you take this compromise with me. Especially if you’re off doing things like blood transfusions on your own. Do we have a deal?”_

“I…yeah. Ok. Thanks, Dr Banner.”

_“It’s Bruce.”_

“Thanks, Bruce.”

_“Any time. Now, you had a friend there? Ned? I’d like to speak to him too.”_

Peter emerged from the bathroom to find Ned on his hands and knees in a set of fluorescent pink gloves. He was wringing out a bloody rag into a bucket from where he was trying to get to the stains out of the carpet.

“I’ll do that,” Peter said quickly, even as he wrinkled his nose. Now that the danger had passed, the smell of blood was becoming overwhelming. He held out the phone. “It’s for you.”

Ned took the phone with wide eyes, mouthing _“Bruce Banner?”_ before he switched places with Peter, heading into the bathroom while Peter sat by Wanda’s side. Circumstances aside, he was thrilled for the chance to meet the only Avenger he hadn’t spoken to yet. If she woke up.

The back of Peter’s neck tingled a few seconds before Melinoe stepped back through the wall, clutching a bag of bandages and medicine. “I got it all,” she said breathlessly, hurrying back to Wanda’s side. “She’s going to be ok?”

“Dr Banner says he thinks so, but if not, he said that you can call him. He’ll treat her without telling anyone else about it.” Peter handed over a piece of paper. “That’s his private number.”

“The Accords Committee is tracking all the Avengers’ phones. It’s not safe.”  


“Not this one,” Peter assured her. “Bruce is careful. He was on the run for years, he knows how to make contact off the grid.” 

Cautiously, Melinoe took the paper. “Why would he do that?”

“He’s been running from people like Ross for longer than anyone.”

Melinoe nodded, looking down at the paper. “There are two numbers here?”

“Yeah, the other one is mine. I’d rather you call instead of, you know, holding my friends hostage. That’s just rude.”

Melinoe managed to look guilty. “I wasn’t going to hurt him. I had to save Hecate, and make sure you wouldn’t tell Stark. I know you’re close.”

_Not anymore._

“How do you know all this?” Peter asked. “About me, and Ned, and the internship -” Even as he said it, the answer was obvious. “You’ve been spying on us. In the Compound. You’ve been in the walls.”

“No! At least, not for a while.”

“Because it got too risky?”

“Because I didn’t want to anymore!” Melinoe pushed her dark hair out of her face, and Peter realized she was younger than he had first thought. She was around the same age as Wanda, maybe even younger than that. “I believed in Aceso. They hurt us on the Raft, for _years,_ and none of the so-called heroes did anything about it.”

“They didn’t know. They would have if they had known.”

“But they didn’t. And they should have. They should have helped us. Instead, they passed laws which made it even easier for Ross and everyone like him to track us down and cage us like animals.”

“That’s not…” Peter looked around for the words, remembering the conversation he had had with Happy on the way to Germany. How that the Accords weren’t about control; they were about accountability.Peter had agreed with that; had _fought_ for that. “That’s not why they signed.”

“It’s why Ross wanted them to sign.”

“But Ross is gone now. The enhanced on the Raft are free. They’re living in the Tower until the Avengers can get them their own homes. Aceso got what she wanted.”

Melinoe opened her mouth to argue further before seeming to think better of it.

Peter got the gist anyway. “It’s not over. Is it?”

She shook her head. “There are people in this world who want anyone like us gone, whether they do it with the law or with a gun.” Her eyes drifted down to Wanda’s injury, now sealed away behind a layer of Peter’s web fluid. “And they’re learning.”

“You called her Hecate. You all have Greek names. Why?”

Melinoe smiled, although her eyes remained sad. “Aceso’s idea. She said we were the real heroes; we deserved superhero names.”

“But…Wanda wasn’t working with Aceso, was she? She didn’t…she couldn’t have…” _Buried me alive under Tony’s lab. Agreed to Tony having his sternum torn apart._

Melinoe shook her head, forceful. “No. Aceso was with Janus and Cratos and Hermes. And just because I believe in their cause, doesn’t mean I believe in them. I hated what they were doing.”

“Then why did you help them?”

“Because I didn’t think there was any other way. And then…” Melinoe reached out, taking Wanda’s hand. “And then she showed me there was. We’re going to stop them; the right way.”

“Stop _who?_ What do they want? _”_

They were interrupted as a second figure walked straight through Ned’s walls.

Peter shot to his feet, web-shooter at the ready. “Who’s he? How many of you can _do_ that?”

The tall, blonde man barely glanced at him, going straight to Wanda’s side instead. Melinoe moved aside so he could take her hand. “How is she?” he asked.

Peter frowned - he knew that voice.

“She’s going to be ok,” Melinoe assured him, with a look to Peter. “Thanks to him.”

The blonde man looked up, his startling blue eyes finding Peter’s. “Thank you, Peter. And if I may say; it is good to see you again. I know we didn’t get a chance to get properly acquainted in Germany, but Tony has always spoken about you in the highest regard.”

The pieces fell into place. _“Vision?”_

Vision seemed to notice his appearance for the first time. “Oh, yes. We are flying ‘under the radar’, as Wanda calls it, even though the technology searching for us is far more advanced than that.”

“It, um, looks good, man.”

The bathroom door opened and Ned emerged, phone still clutched in his hand. “Dude, that was the best phone call I’ve ever had in my - Woah, new person in my bedroom. Hi, new person.”

“Ned, this is Vision.”

Ned looked like he might pass out. “Holy shit, that’s awesome! I have so many questions about how you were made and how you work and -” He glanced around the room. “And I can see that this is not the time, and I’m going to wait over here.”

“We can’t stay,” Vision announced. “Is it safe to move her?”

“Probably not,” Peter admitted.

“We can’t wait here either,” Melinoe insisted.

“My parents won’t be back until morning,” Ned volunteered.

Melinoe shook her head. “No. I don’t want to lead any of the people who are chasing us here. I’ve caused you enough trouble.” She turned around to face Ned. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to do.”

“That’s ok,” Ned replied cheerily. “I mean, I got to meet Vision, and the Scarlet Witch, and I’m shutting up now. Sorry. Do your dramatic goodbye bit.”

“Who’s after you?” Peter insisted. “I can help.”

“I am sure you could,” Vision assured him. “But this is not your fight.”

“If it’s someone targeting enhanced people, then actually it kind of is.”

Their conversation was broken up as Wanda stirred, drawing all attention to the bed. Her eyes fluttered open, finding Vision’s first. “Vis.”

Vision’s expression turned from worried to tender. “It is good to see you awake.”

“What happened?”

“You were hurt. But you’re going to be ok.” He indicated Peter and Ned. “Thanks to these two.”

Ned waved from the bathroom doorway. “Hi, I’m…I’m Ned. Welcome to my bedroom, Scarlet Witch. It’s usually not this messy. Or bloody. Not that the blood matters, I’ll clean it up, it’s not a problem at all -”

Melinoe stood. “I got it. We can’t leave traces.”

She ran a hand over the carpet, where the drying blood stains turned into a light mist before falling back into solid form.

Ned’s eyes, if possible, went even wider. “Oh, wow, that’s _awesome.”_ He watched Melinoe move into the bathroom. “I’ll get the vacuum.”

Wanda’s green eyes met Peter’s brown ones, taking in what was left of the Spider-Man suit. “You were in Germany. You fought for Stark.”

“You fought for Cap.”

“You’re young.”

Peter was getting more than sick of hearing that. “I’m sixteen.”

She shook her head. “You misunderstand. It’s not an insult. Young is good. Years make people stuck in their ways.” She took a deep breath, wincing as she started to sit up, Vision assisting her. “You saved my life.”

“I helped a bit.”

“And you’re modest. Are you sure you’re aligned with Stark?”

_Are you, Peter?_  
 _  
Go away, stupid voice._

“I’m aligned with the Avengers.”

Wanda sat all the way up, one hand on her stomach as she waved her other in front of her. Small red sparks of magic swirled in her fingers. “So,” she murmured. “Gargan hasn’t perfected it yet. That’s good. We have time.”

“Did you say Gargan? I know Gargan. Well,” Peter amended as both Wanda and Vision’s heads whipped towards him. “I don’t know him, know him. Like, we’re not on a first-name basis. or anything. But we’ve kind of met. I took down his weapons supplier.”

“Adrien Toomes,” Vision confirmed.  
  
“You know about Toomes?”

Vision gave him a small smile. “F.R.I.D.A.Y. and I keep in touch.”

The sound of a vacuum sounded elsewhere in the house as Melinoe melted back through the wall. “Hecate? We should go.”  
  
“We should,” Wanda agreed, turning back to Peter. “Thank you, again. But we’ve stayed long enough.”

She held out her arms, allowing Vision to pull her against him.

“You should wait.” Peter indicated the wound. “You might open it again.”

“I’ll have to risk it. You helped me. Let me return the favor by not bringing them to your doorstep.”

“ _Who?_ ” Peter pressed, frustrated. “I can help, really. I’m strong and I heal fast and I’m, um, really sticky. Generally useful all-rounder over here.”

“It’s not your fight.”

“But there _is_ a fight,” Peter clarified. “A bad one.”

Wanda’s expression was set. “Not if I have anything to do it with.”

She let Vision carry her to the window, balancing her in one arm while he looped the other around Melinoe’s waist.

“Wait!” Peter scurried to his feet, knocking the bedside chair over in his haste. “At least…If you’re not going to tell me everything, at least just give me _something._ ”

Wanda considered the words before she said, “Ask Stark about what’s on his computer server.”

Then Vision was flying, taking all three of them off into the night.

“Oh what, did I miss them?” Ned had reappeared in the doorway, the vacuum still clutched in one hand. “Damn. Still awesome though. Is this your life, like, _all the time?”_

“People telling me I’m young and then not telling me anything? Yeah, feels like it lately.”

“What was that about Tony’s computer server?”

Peter frowned. “This enhanced called Aceso wanted something on it, really badly. She did some pretty messed up stuff to get it.”

“Like what?”

For a second, Peter was back under Tony’s floorboards, certain he was going to die from thirst or asphyxiation.

“Peter?”

“Just…messed up stuff. But Natasha killed her. And Tony wiped all the weapons stuff from the server, so I don’t know…I don’t know, Ned.”

“Hey, man. You ok?”

Peter shook his head, starting to pace the room, not even noticing when he went from floor to wall and over the ceiling. “I just want people to trust me with stuff, is that so hard to ask?”

Ned craned his neck so he could keep looking at him. “I trust you.”

Peter sighed, realizing he was upside-down and dropping back to the floor. “I know.” The adrenaline of the night suddenly caught up with him, and he flopped back on the bed, squeezing his eyes shut as his stomach growled.

“You wanna eat?” he heard Ned ask. “We have some pancit in the fridge.”

“I’m fine,” Peter said even as his stomach betrayed him, rumbling even louder.

“Come on, your freaky weird metabolism must be catching up to you by now. Stay, I’ll get it.”

“You don’t have to -”

“Stay. Or else,” Ned warned him.

“That was not threatening in the slightest.”

“Then stay because I’m adorable and you love me.”

Peter tried to protest further, but Ned had already left the room. He could still smell the traces of blood emulating from the vacuum as Bruce’s words echoed in his head.

_And I’m not going to pretend that I don’t see where he’s coming from, because I do, but he’s still wrong._

Was he though?

Peter recalled how he had felt when his phone had rung back at the Compound, arriving at Ned’s house only to see the trail of blood up the stairs. That had been…he never wanted to feel that again, _ever._

He recalled Tony’s face when he had ripped the floorboards of the workshop up; his voice when he had thought Cratos had strangled him. Were afternoons in the lab and movie nights really worth putting Tony through all that?

There was a gentle knock at the door as Ned poked his head in, holding a dish of something that smelled amazing, even as it made Peter a little sick as he inhaled that and the scents of blood at the same time. “Hey. Can I come in?”

“It’s your bedroom.” Peter scooted up the bed to make room for Ned, who handed him the dish of noodles. “Thanks.”

They sat in silence for a few beats before Ned prompted, “Aren’t you going to eat it?”

“In a minute.” Peter’s stomach growled again.

“Dude, you’re being weirder than usual. Like, not nerdy weird, but _weird_ weird _._ Is this a spider thing? Because it’s freaking me out a bit.”

“I’m fine.”

“Yeah, Peter? You’re so obviously not fine that I’m surprised that MJ hasn’t magically appeared with her sketchbook to draw you in crisis.”

“It’s just…”

“You need to eat, and then you need to tell me what’s going on, because you’re making me worried. God, I sound like my mom. Stop making me sound like my mom.”

“Sorry, it’s just…I can still smell the blood.”

“Oh. _Oh.”_ Ned jumped off the bed, returning from the bathroom with a bottle of air freshener, which he started spritzing around the bed. “Is that better?

To his horror, Peter felt his eyes grow wet.

“Oh, shit. _Shit.”_ Ned hastily stopped spraying. “Is the air freshener bad? Should I stop? Or I think we have another scent somewhere- ”

“No, just…” Peter swiped at his eyes. “Stop being _nice_ to me.”

“What? I’m your best friend, that's my job. That, and to make you look good in front of girls. Or embarrass you in front of girls, depending on the day.” Ned perched awkwardly on the edge of the bed again, eyes round with worry. “What’s going on? Tell me.”

“Ned, someone found out about my identity and they went straight for you. I got you _kidnapped_.”

Ned shrugged it off. “Hardly. I don’t think it counts if they don’t even take me out of my bedroom.”

“It counts.”

Ned scrambled closer on the bed. “I’m not even hurt. Look, the beginning was a little scary, when I didn’t know what she wanted, but then she brought in the Scarlet Witch and she explained everything and it was fine. I’m fine. Ok? Peter?”

“It’s not fine. What if it happens again?”

Ned’s face remained dead serious as he said, “I’ll learn kung fu.”

Peter pushed the noodles to one side. “I never wanted this to happen. This is why the mask, and the secret identity, and everything! And not being able to do anything right, or doing everything right and Tony pushes me anyway, and -”

“Woah, ok, slow down. On the phone - Dr Banner said something happened with Tony.Still feels weird calling Iron Man _Tony,_ by the way. I can’t believe you call him that like, to his face and stuff.”

Peter tried and failed to bite back on new tears, hastily wiping his face before they could spill. He wasn’t a child, and he wasn’t going to cry like one.

“Oh, shoot, sorry!” Ned looked horrified. “Did I say something wrong? I didn’t mean to -”

“It’s fine. I’m not upset.” _Liar._ “Just frustrated. And angry. Well, not angry, not really just…I’m so sick of this!”

It all came tumbling out then; feeling replaced by Harley, the kidnapping, the awful conversation that had followed with Tony afterward. Ned listened all the way through, nodding along, wincing when Peter got the parts about being buried alive and the rats’ nest. 

“And now it’s just…” Peter waved a hand. “It’s over. The internship, everything. Gone.”

“I’m sure he’ll change his mind,” Ned assured him. “Dr Banner said he was going to talk to him, right?”

Peter shrugged. “I guess. What did he talk to you about?”

“Basically that I am under no circumstances to ever give anyone a blood transfusion ever again unless I become a certified doctor, which he then encouraged me to do and said I sound very bright for my age.”

Peter gave him a watery smile. “Yeah, that sounds like him.”

“Maybe once you patch things up with Tony we could have co-internships. You with Tony Stark and me with Bruce Banner. That would be…” Ned mimed his head exploding.

“Yeah. Maybe.”

“Come on, Tony Stark gave you a suit and access to his labs and gets Happy to pick you up from school and everything. You obviously mean a lot to him.”

“Yeah. That’s the problem, remember? And also…I don’t know, maybe he’s right.”

“Well, he’s not. He’s an idiot. Wow, did I just call Tony Stark an idiot? Don’t you dare tell him that.”

_It’s not as if I’m going to get the chance to._ “Ned, hearing that you were in danger, thinking you were hurt because of me, because of Spider-Man…that’s not something I want to feel again, _ever._ ”

“Ok, but I wasn’t in danger, not really -”

“I was,” Peter mumbled. He recalled the feel of Cratos’s arms around his neck, choking him to death with his own strength. “And if I’m making Tony feel that way, maybe it is best that - _ow!”_

It hadn’t hurt, not really, but the surprise of Ned hitting his arm was enough for Peter to cry out. “What was that for?”

“For being an idiot.”

“Hey! You’re meant to be comforting me here.”

“So what, some ghosty girl walks into my house one time and you’re going to cut me out of your life forever?” 

Peter opened his mouth, and hesitated, a whole host of new thoughts demanding attention in his brain. “I mean, Melinoe did say there were more of them. And if they know who I am, and you are, and who _May_ is -”

“Woah, no, dude, I was kidding! Also you can’t cut me out. We are package deal, we have been since second grade. I’m your guy in the chair, remember? And if anyone ever went after May, then my money’s on your aunt. Seriously, that time when that bus driver nearly hit you and then tried to say it was your fault?” Ned shuddered. “She was furious. I’ve never been so terrified in my life.”

“But it’s not safe,” Peter insisted. “I couldn’t live with myself if something like that happened.” 

“Aw, you care.”

“Ned, I’m being serious!”

“So am I! You can’t be mad at Tony for telling you to stay away and then try to do that exact same thing to me!”

Peter sighed, burying his head in his hands, letting out a low groan. “This night is the worst.” 

“Hey, we saved the Scarlet Witch’s life. I got to talk to Bruce Banner. I hardly rank that as the worst.”

“I guess,” Peter mumbled.

“So…what are you going to do? About Tony?”

Peter didn’t look up from his hands. “I don’t know. If Wanda had just told me I could have helped, and-”

“Well, maybe we can still help.”

Peter peaked out from between his fingers. “How?”

“She said something about a guy selling weapons that hurt enhanced, right? Maybe we can find him.”

Peter recalled the man with the scorpion tattoo from the ferry, brightening a little. “Yeah. Yeah, maybe I could.”

“Maybe _we_ could.”

“Right. We.” He sighed as he looked out the window at the night sky. He was way out past curfew. He was in so much trouble. “We should probably go back to May’s, if you told your parents you were staying with me tonight. Although, fair warning, we’re going to get furious terrifying May.”

“Nah, _you’re_ going to get scary May. I won’t. May loves me.”

Ned hopped off the bed, starting to pack a bag as Peter headed for the bathroom. “I just got to make a phone call real quick.”

“Peter?”

Peter paused in the bathroom doorway. 

“You know you can’t get rid of me, right?”

“I know. I've been trying for years.”

It wasn’t really funny, but Ned smiled anyway, shooting finger guns Peter’s way before returning to packing.

Peter shut the bathroom door, letting the Spider-Man mask cover his face. “Karen? You there?”

_“I’m always here for you, Peter. I see you have averted the dangerous situation and you and Mr Leeds are both unharmed. Congratulations.”_

“Um, yeah. Thanks, I guess.” Peter perched on the edge of the bathtub. “Hey, can you send a message to Tony for me? I don’t have my phone.”

“ _Of course, Peter. What would like you to say?”_

Peter paused, thinking about how he wanted to word this. It wasn’t exactly what he would like to say. But it was the right thing to say.

_“What would you like to say, Peter?”_

_Ok._ Peter swallowed, preparing himself. _Here goes._

***

_“Boss? You have an incoming message from Mr Parker”_

Tony paused in the software update he wasn’t really focussed on. It was due for the S.I. board in the morning, although he had hoped that both of his teenagers-in-residence getting snatched from under his nose would buy him an extension from Pepper. Maybe. He’d been pushing Cassandra down in his priorities for months now, and it couldn’t wait any longer.

But when Tony stared at the holographic screen in front of him, he wasn’t seeing code. He was just seeing Peter’s face as he told him that any kind of personal relationship was over.

He hadn’t _wanted_ to do it. The kid was one of the only bearable things left around the Compound; one of the only people he could share a room with without feeling like his airways were closing up.

_Yeah, but that’s the problem, isn’t it? You get too attached to people. Then they get hurt. Pepper, Happy, Rhodey, Bruce, Harley. Peter._

Tony tried to push the thoughts away, and couldn’t. Because they were right. It sucked worse than his Spring Break hangover of 1987, but they were right.

_Either you get them hurt, or they hurt you. You know how it goes._

That sounded far too close to his father for comfort. Tony pushed himself away from the work, hands automatically going for the top drawer of the left workbench, the one where he used to stash at least one bottle of emergency scotch. Or celebratory scotch. Or “I just want to stop thinking about everything for damn minutes” scotch.

It wasn’t there. It hadn’t been there since Sokovia.

There were two sets of reinforced handcuffs instead.

Tony slammed the drawer shut, wandering over to one of the vintage cars he kept in the workshop instead, slumping into the driver’s seat of the 1932 Ford Flathead Roadster.

_“Boss?”_

“I heard you, Fri.”

“ _Do_ _you_ _want_ _me_ _to_ _play_ _it?”_

Tony sighed. “Sure, get it over with.”

Tony wasn’t sure what he was expecting. Something angry he would have taken, although that wasn’t exactly Peter’s style. Something upset he probably deserved too although, again, not something he’d expect from the kid. 

_“Mr Stark?”_

No more first name terms. Yep, he deserved that. 

_“So I don’t know if you’ll even listen to this but I just wanted to say…I get it.”_

Tony sat bolt upright in the car. Whatever he had been expecting, it wasn’t this.   
_  
“I’m not going to go into details, but…having someone you…well, having someone thrown in harm’s way because of you, um, really isn’t that fun? Just hypothetically, I mean, I was thinking about it. If it was someone I cared about, like May or Ned or…or someone else, I’d want to protect them too. So, yeah, I…I understand. Why you want some distance, right now. And later. And for good, really. I understand. I get it. I get it now, ok? Why you said what you said. And -”_

The next part of the message was cut off as the Compound alarm sounded.

Tony was on his feet in an instant, the Bleeding Edge armor swarming out of its housing unit. “What’s going on, Fri?”

_“It appears aliens are attacking New York, Boss.”_

Tony sighed, “Sure, why not.”

_“Would you like me to play the rest of Mr Parker’s message?”_

“Later.” Tony felt the faceplate slip into place. To be honest, he was glad of the distraction. What he had heard of the message had been gut-wrenching enough. “There’s work to do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I said Peter & Tony would be ok. I didn't say they were going to be ok in this episode. (Is there a name for a platonic version of a slow burn?)
> 
> The Whumptoberverse continues in [Room 101](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27147191/chapters/66849940)


	3. Fanart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fanart of Melinoe by the wonderful [Whispering Imp](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/whispering-imp/633457182154932224)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween!

**Author's Note:**

> Come scream at me on [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/jinxquickfoot), especially if you also write fanfic or do fanart! Share your work with me!
> 
> Fun fact: my older sister is a doctor who went to university and studied medicine. I did not study medicine. I studied film and English literature. That definitely shows in this episode. *hand-waves away all medical inaccuracies in exchange for PLOT and ANGST*
> 
> So instead of using my degree to give blood transfusions and stitches, I'm using it to make a podcast. You know the drill. Kill the Cat, find it on [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ypaen3yM5Q&t=1s&ab_channel=KilltheCatPodcast), [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/5hCprc9UCBZP4srFrBXKT1?si=0CF3IKjGThK0tohIqcEy4Q) or wherever you get your podcasts.


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